GFAP-δ, the delta isoform of the glial fibrillary acidic protein, is particularly expressed in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the brain. GFAP-δ positive cells in the SVZ co-express the neural stem cells (NSCs) marker nestin. According to the theory of glioma oncogenesis, transformation of a cell population with stem features which resides in the SVZ could be the origin of astrocytomas. Moreover, it is known that cancer stem cells promote tumor invasion in cerebral astrocytomas. Therefore, we investigated the immunostaining of GFAP-δ and nestin in cerebral astrocytomas and evaluated the correlation between the positive cell ratio of these markers and the neuroimaging features associated with tumor invasion in forty-four cases of grade II, III and IV cerebral astrocytomas (World Health Organization's classification). Tissue samples were obtained by stereotactic biopsies in all cases. According to the preoperative neuroimaging criteria, tumors were categorized into highly invasive and low invasive. Most of the low-grade and high-grade astrocytomas express GFAP-δ and nestin. The positive cell ratio of GFAP-δ and the positive cell ratio of nestin were statistically significantly higher in highly invasive tumors compared with low-invasive tumors (p < 0.05). Altogether, these results suggest that GFAP-δ and nestin could be clinically relevant markers associated with tumor invasiveness in cerebral astrocytomas.
Genetic research has shaped the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) landscape identifying nearly two hundred risk loci. Nonetheless, the identified variants rendered only a partial success in providing criteria for the differential diagnosis between ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Transcript levels from affected intestinal mucosa may serve as tentative biomarkers for improving classification and diagnosis of IBD. The aim of our study was to identify gene expression profiles specific for UC and CD, in endoscopically affected and normal intestinal colonic mucosa from IBD patients. We evaluated a panel of 84 genes related to the IBD-inflammatory pathway on 21 UC and 22 CD paired inflamed and not inflamed mucosa and on age-matched normal mucosa from 21 non-IBD controls. Two genes in UC (CCL11 and MMP10) and two in CD (C4BPB and IL1RN) showed an upregulation trend in both noninflamed and inflamed mucosa compared to controls. Our results suggest that the transcript levels of CCL11, MMP10, C4BPB, and IL1RN are candidate biomarkers that could help in clinical practice for the differential diagnosis between UC and CD and could guide new research on future therapeutic targets.
Marinesco was a prolific researcher in the field of neuropathology, especially neurodegeneration but also in clinical neurology. He is now considered the founder of the modern Romanian school of neurology.
Cardiac myxoma, the most common benign cardiac tumour, can determine brain metastases or multiple cerebral aneurysms, but very few cases of both complications have been reported. We discuss the therapeutic management in the case of a patient, operated for a cardiac myxoma, who presented three intracerebral tumours and five cerebral microaneurysms.
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